Have you ever been jolted awake from a dream frustrated by a vividly compelling collection of images and actions that don’t quite fit together? That feeling is both the delight and damnation of the current staging of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which opened the summer season Saturday (June 14) for the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane.

In presenting one of the Bard’s most popular comedies, the festival offers a visually stunning production that is among the most beautiful we’ve seen from the company. It also creates an awkward sense of déjà vu. This “Midsummer” has become far too recurring of a dream.

The festival acknowledges that it is reviving the play in part as a tribute to its much lauded post-Katrina production, which already was a revival of a revival. In a decade’s time, this is now the fifth time the play has appeared on the Lupin Theatre’s stage. In addition, it was just three summers ago that the NOLA Project staged its inimitable production of the comedy in the Sculpture Gardens at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Classic though it may be, it's becoming as overstaged as “Nunsense” on the local theater scene. That’s not to say another production cannot succeed, but at the outset it bears on its shoulders the weight of fond memories of some brilliant and unforgettable performances.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

What: The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane kicks off its season with a production of the Bard's classic comic fairy tale. Clare Moncrief directs Danny Bowen, Francesca McKenzie, Clint Johnson, Alex Ates, Liam Kraus and others.

The newest production does have the feel that this is finally what the director and artistic team wanted to fully realize. Clearly a significant budget went into this staging, and it is a sight to behold. However, despite generally fine performances, including some that are distinctly noteworthy, a fully unifying vision bringing it all together seems lacking, leaving the production struggling to justify itself.

All of that said, if you’re among the few local Shakespearean fans who haven’t seen at least one of the earlier shows, you will enjoy partaking of this “Dream.” Despite some unnecessary gimmicks and moments of miscasting, it’s plain to see why this is a favorite among the comedies.

The setting of these Athenians is now a stately home in a vague span of time sometime between the World Wars. Director Clare Moncrief sets a good frenetic pace throughout the show, giving the plot the feel of a screwball comedy, along the lines of “Bringing Up Baby” or “The Philadelphia Story.”

At first, that higher style of clever wit, shown by the four lovers at the center of the tale, would make a nice balance against the broader shtick of the Mechanicals. But here is where the production loses its coherence. Once the lovers have entered into the fairy-filled forest, various enchantments mix up their pairings. As it all comes to its climax in a rigorously staged scene, the comedy begins at a higher tone but quickly collapses into mere slapstick. As a result, the later silly staging of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe feels redundant.

As Demetrius, Morgan Roberts begins as a stylish Cary Grant-like figure. Chris Silva’s Lysander, however, descends madly into channeling Moe Howard. Meanwhile, Ruby Lou Smith’s Helena takes on the classic aloofness of a young Katharine Hepburn, while Lyndsay Kimball delights as the spitfire Hermia, proving to be as scrappy as June Allyson. One wonders why either of these women would want these comparatively bland suitors.

Two performances stand out most brightly. Clint Johnson is an eager-to-please but sly Puck, a bolt of energy that illuminates the stage. Even the rhythms he brings to the most well-known lines makes them burst forth with unexpected cheer.

As Flute, the fairest of the Mechanicals doomed to play a rollicking Thisbe, Alex Ates steals the show, bringing a needed shot of energy to the final moments to push the show over the finish line. In recent years, Ates has consistently proven to be one of the festival’s rising young stars.

Jessica Podewell gave Quince a nervous charm that gave the role added appeal. As Bottom, Liam Kraus has the right touch for the physical comedy but on opening night found little variety in the delivery of his lines, rolling through some too quickly for the humor to land. Brendan Bowen, Donald Lewis, and Burton Tedesco rounded out the intrepid little troupe nicely.

Perpetually ready for her close-up, Beverly Trask delighted in the small dragon lady role of Egeus, whose gender has been changed as Hermia’s mother, rather than father.

Danny Bowen and Francesca McKenzie are suitably regal crossing the worlds of the play as both Theseus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania. Their romantic spark is often too dim, however.

The assortment of fairies added to the sense of wonder in the forest. Their cheesy aerial acrobatics, however, were forced and added little. By stopping the action to watch them climb the panels slowed the performance and came across as mere Cirque du Vegas stunts to elicit applause.

The show has a sharp look. Jane Cassidy’s backdrop projections are effective and elegant, working well with Leah Farrelly’s streamlined scenic designs. Martin Sachs’ lighting creates the magical atmosphere of the fairy land well.

Jennifer Gillette’s costumes were exquisite, but often felt mismatched. The palette of silver-grey, blacks and whites for the Athenians resulted in a brilliant contrast to the more colorful world of the fairies. Once the lovers entered that fairy land forest, their clothing was too much of a mishmash of times and styles. “What if Laura Ashley and Ralph Lauren had a baby?” Call it “Brideshead Regurgitated.”